Flatlander Fitness

[hibernation]

Being mentally tough will not supersede a torn ligament or pulled muscle. An injury is an injury. Mental toughness isn't overcoming an injury and keeping plowing forward regardless of pain, that's stupidity. Mental toughness is in the preparation (just my .02). But like Poser, I must not know anyone who is truly 'mentally tough'.

Yeah, I hear "mental toughness" from some people as an excuse to not train or prepare at all. "Don't worry bro, when we get out there I'll just tough it out" - that only carries you so far. Plus, when you've done all the prep and are in great shape, you don't need near as much "toughness" to grind through it.

I've heard this attributed to a lot of different coaches over the years, but still relevant: the will to win isn't nearly as important as the will to prepare.

 

[Artemis]

Find a hill climb repeatedly with weight on your pack. I have also had good results building caridio by hitting the stair climber hard. Although, nothing better than getting in the mountains with pack on. IMHO

 

[Short Track]

3 days of acclimation goes a long way.

A true acclimation takes 2 weeks to 1 month for 100%. 3-6 days does a lot. But certainly not enough. I did 1 week of acclimation at 9,000 feet; and it wasn't enough at 11,000'. I was huffing & puffing until we came back down to 9,000 to camp.

 

[TaperPin]

I have traditionally gone up hills somewhat better than going down, so a little extra time with leg extensions has kept me out of trouble.

One of our kids moved recently and while carrying heavy things down stairs slowly, like the speed of smell slow, I couldn’t help think how good a workout it was for the knees and quads. Spending too much time going up a stair climber and too little going down anything would be a recipe for sore knees, sometime debilitating, walk with a limp for a year sore knees. *chuckle*

 

[Chris in TN]

My daughter and I did another 6-miler this afternoon under our packs. I've lost about five pounds this summer and at the end of a six mile hike I'm partly motivated to lose five more, and partly motivated to eat everything in the kitchen.